Why is the Supersymmetry Breaking Scale Unnaturally High?

Abstract

Evidence is mounting that natural supersymmetry at the weak scale is not realized in nature. On the other hand, string theory suggests that supersymmetry may be present at some energy scale, and gauge coupling unification implies that that energy scale may be relatively low. A puzzling question is then why nature would prefer a low, but not completely natural supersymmetry breaking scale. Here we offer one possible explanation, which simultaneously addresses also the strong CP and mu problems. We introduce an axion, and suppose that the Peccei-Quinn and supersymmetry breaking scales are connected. If we further assume that R-parity is not conserved, then the axion is required to be dark matter, and the Peccei-Quinn/supersymmetry breaking scale is required to be at least ~10^12 GeV. Gravity mediation then yields scalar superpartners with masses of at least ~100 TeV. The gauginos are likely to obtain loop-factor suppressed masses through anomaly mediation and higgsino threshold corrections, and thus may be accessible at the LHC. The axion should be probed at phase II of the ADMX experiment, and signs of R-parity violation may be seen in the properties of the gauginos.

15 pages. v2: An error in the wino and bino LSP lifetimes has been corrected. They are much more rapid than reported in the previous version. This significantly weakens the BBN constraint, and opens a lot of parameter space. Decays of wino or bino LSPs may now actually be detectable at the LHC